Book-II Chapter 5

Conveying Systems

File Name :
2_5_conveying_3nr1
Topic: Screw Conveyor

Capacity Calculation as a Function of Geometry and speed of Screw Conveyor

The capacity of a screw conveyor depends upon average cross sectional areaof the flow of
material in the trough and the material speed,These depend on trough diameter,the screw
lead and speed.

Pitch of the screw is normally equal to the diameter or upto 0.8 times the screw diameter.
Standard dia. of screw range from 0,15 to 0.6 m but can go up in special cases to 1000mm
or more.
As a thumb rule pitch should be atleasr 12 times the average piece size of material.and 4
time the maximum size of material

Gradient = degree C factor = C

0 1
5 0.9

10

C 0.8


15 0.7
20 0.65

Screw speed is selected as followes

60
n
For light and non abrasive material
D

45
For heavy and non abrasive material n
D
30
For heavy and abrasive material n
D
 Q Throughput ( tph ) Q tph

Bd Bulk density , ton/m3 Bd 1.25 ton/m3

n Screw speed , rpm n 20 rpm

Sp Screw Pitch , mm Sp 300 mm

D Diameter of Trough D 300 mm

L Length of Screw L 5 m

C Factor for variation of material cross section C 1

For horizontal flow C=1 :At 200 gradient C= 0.65)

Filling factor ( varies between 0.75 to 0.85 ) 0.8

Calculations :
F Average cross sectional area of the material flow ( m2 )

2
D
F C m2
4 1000 1000

F 0.057 m2

v Speed of movement of the material along the axis ( m/s )

n
v Sp m/s
1000 60

v 0.1 m/s

Q Capacity of the conveyor ( t/h )

Q F v Bd 3600 t/h

Q 25.447 t/h

Power requirement calculation:

NHS Power at shaft for horizontal conv.

 1.2 Flour , Cereal, Saw dust
Friction factor C1
C1
1.6 Pulverised Coal
2.5 Lump Coal
Cement , Gypsum, clay, Ash,
4
Lime

C1 4
QL
NHS C1
367

NHS 1.387
kW

Ngs Power at shaft If the screw has to move material in a gradient ( kW)

H Lift of the screw H 0.3 m

H QL
Ngs Q C1
367 367

Ngs 1.408 kW

Ref . Materials Handling Equipment by M.P.Alexandrov